Gaining a competitive advantage through the provision of innovative products, services and processes is imperative in the current highly competitive climate. However, business innovation can often be expensive and can also be easily imitated by competitors.
A company’s ability to accurately define and consistently redefine its capabilities coupled with a level of customer satisfaction that blows competitors out of the water are the keys to business success. Establishing a competitive advantage is one thing holding onto it is another. The life cycle for competitive advantage is diminishing and the importance of building meta-capabilities, using market dynamics in conjunction with a corporation’s inherited strengths, is rising. Innovation across processes, business models, management systems and service provision can help in retaining competitive advantage but this innovation needs to implement on a micro to macro level and in the short term right through to long term business planning. The reward for this? Increased profit instead of diminishing margins and constant growth instead of declining market share and turnover.
We are now piloting the Innovation Navigator, based on several decades of research, pilot projects, innovation strategy management and execution in large, small, complex, agile, local and global projects. The methodology is based on state-of-the-art research from MIT and Henley Business Schools, as well as our consultant’s project experience and best practice, to mention a few sources. Below is a screen shoot from our new tool we use to explore and line out recommendations on whitch actions to take. Interested in measuring your firm’s source of competitive advantages and outlining a tangible action plan to take your capabilities to the next level an compete to win? Send me an e-mail explaining why your firm should participate in part of our pilot tests taking off at this very moment.